falleentiumfandomcom-20200215-history
Popular Republican Movement
|flag = |logo = 250px|colours = Orange|leader3_title = |leader3_name = |chairman = Stuart Ponsonby|spokesman = Arlen Specter|wing1_title = Affiliated radio|wing1 = Movement Radio|seats1_title = Chamber of Deputies|founder = Stuart Ponsonby Jeff Sessions|youth_wing = Youth of the Movement|newspaper = Ponsonby Press|secretary_general = Jeff Sessions|membership_year = 574AER|membership = ~25,000 }} The Popular Republican Movement is a major radical centrist political party in Falleentium that was formed on June 14, 570AER in Tapanuo by Stuart Ponsonby and Jeff Sessions. It is currently the part of the wartime unity government under Chancellor Willy Brandt that was formed in response to the Red Federation attacks. Before the war, it was in a pragmatic leftist government with the Socialist Party and New Progressives after becoming the third-largest party in parliament in the 575 Federal Election. The leader of the Popular Republicans, Sheldon Whitehouse, is the incumbent Deputy Imperial Chancellor of Falleentium. Policy Positions The Popular Republican Movement is a political party that stresses the importance of compromise and meaningful coalition in government to achieve results. It has been described as Radical Centrist by political observers, noting the party's willingness to adopt policy positions from both the left and right. Overall, PRM views tend to be left-of-centre, but can range from centre-right to left-wing. Foreign Policy PRM advocates a non-interventionist foreign policy that involves significant reductions in military spending, believing that the Falleen budget is better spent at home rather than on a bloated military. PRM has recently become known for attempting to re-open diplomacy with Vanossium and for pushing for the establishment of a judiciary body in the Nilira Alliance to protect human rights. Haals Policy PRM suggests that the military do what is necessary to bring peace to Haals. Then, as soon as the state is stable, a referendum should be called to determine whether the state's residents wish to be part of Falleentium. If they do not, then the state should be released post-haste. Independence Policy PRM supports the exit of Veldunium and Hastiga from the Empire of Falleentium after free and fair referenda indicated a simple majority of the inhabitants desired this. However, it also supports Jalb reunification as 80% of ethnic Jalbs in Veldunium voted to stay in the Empire. Economic Policy The Movement believes that the economy works best when the common man makes not just enough money to survive, but enough money to contribute back to the economy through purchases. It hopes to achieve this end through low-income tax breaks, trade protectionism, and through government investment. It does not, however, endorse deficit spending except when there is an explicit plan to mitigate and swiftly repay debts created thereby. PRM proposes tackling unemployment and spurring economic growth by providing tax incentives for companies that hire employees and purchase capital from mostly Falleen-based sources. It also proposes illegalizing the sale of plant milks using the word "milk" in an attempt to assist rural dairy farms. Immigration Policy PRM contends that the current Imperial Immigration Act provides absurdly strict federal standards, and that the law must therefore be softened so as to make more people eligible to immigrate. On the other hand, it also believes in granting both federal and state governments the power to set immigration quotas so that each state or the Empire as a whole is not forced to accept more immigrants than they desire. History Formation The Popular Republican Movement was founded on June 14, 570AER in an office park located at 109 East Park Place, Tapanuo. It was the brainchild of local television news reporter Stuart Ponsonby, who was legally helped in the formation of the party by his good friend and lawyer, Jeff Sessions, who was subsequently made the parliamentary leader of the party. Other prominent acquisitions by the party included political commentator Arlen Specter, who was signed on as Spokesman of the party, and longtime government accountability activist Sheldon Whitehouse. Election of 571AER and the Purple Coalition The Popular Republican Movement contested its first election in 571AER, where Jeff Sessions and, to a lesser degree, Sheldon Whitehouse, were deployed as campaign surrogates around Falleentium making speeches that often focused on the economy. The election campaign was characterized by frequent sniping back and forth between the Movement and another new party, the Falleentium Conservative and Reform Party, which Popular Republicans criticized for their right-wing extremist rhetoric. The result of this election gave 5% of the vote to the Popular Republican Movement - 9th place out of 14 parties overall. Assuming that UKIP, which was again victorious, would form a conservative government with other right-wing parties, the Popular Republicans negotiated to become a member of the Socialist Party-led opposition. However, this quickly changed as UKIP leader Angela Merkel, a centrist, approached the Socialist Party, the Popular Republican Movement, and the Center Party to form a moderate "purple coalition" to govern, rejecting the hardline right-wing parties. The governing coalition of UKIP, SP, and PRM formed a 51.6% majority of the vote share. This expanded to 55.6% with the support of CP. Popular Republicans Jeff Sessions and Donald Rumsfeld served in the second Angela Merkel cabinet as Home Secretary and Education Secretary, respectively. The official opposition to this government came from the National Socialist Union, which had become the third-largest party in the Chamber of Deputies after a merger with The Alternative. The opposition from this party was generally characterized as weak and ineffective, however; the NSU had a poor attendance record for voting in parliament, and did not contest the 575 elections. The government was opposed most vocally by the Falleentium Conservative and Reform Party, which styled itself 'the real opposition'. UKIP and the Socialist Party came under fire from ideological purists in their bases of support and from other political parties for working together, but PRM was spared such attacks. This is due to it being situated ideologically in-between its coalition partners, it being the smallest faction of government, and leader Sessions' proud and well-known commitment to working with other parties as much as possible in parliament. Election of 575AER - party growth and Chancellor Brandt At the beginning of 575AER, Jeff Sessions announced that he would step down as parliamentary leader and chancellor candidate for the Popular Republicans, citing his age. He was replaced by another early party member, Sheldon Whitehouse, at Sessions' recommendation and after a unanimous confirmation by party MPs. Whitehouse signified a slight drift to the left for PRM. The party ran a positive and vigorous campaign, including a series of debates where Spokesman Arlen Specter represented PRM views on a host of topics. On the eve of the election, UKIP and SP mutually ruled out working in a coalition with each other, ending the possibility of a continuation of the governing electoral alliance of the past four years - a development which former leader Sessions described as "saddening". Whitehouse delivered a commanding electoral result of 12.5% - an improvement of 7.5% over the previous election, making PRM the party with the strongest growth since the last election (not counting the New Progressives, which received 8% after being newly established as a successor to the once-dominant Progressive Labour Party). The Popular Republicans were therefore in the position to play kingmaker, as UKIP and SP both courted Whitehouse for an electoral alliance that would effectively decide who ran government for the next legislative session. Ultimately, Whitehouse chose to support Willy Brandt and the Socialists. Starkly different foreign policy views are attributed to the failure of UKIP's Amber Rudd, who was more conservative than Merkel, to win PRM's support. The New Progressives formed the third arm of the coalition, which brought the Government up to 43% of parliament. However, it also had the support of the Federal Liberal Party and the Center Party, bringing the total to 51%. These five parties formed the Cabinet of Willy Brandt, described as a Liberal-Socialist alliance. PRM's Sheldon Whitehouse became Deputy Imperial Chancellor, Donald Rumsfeld retained his position as Secretary of Education, Tulsi Gabbard was appointed Foreign Secretary, and Willi Stoph was appointed Secretary of Infrastructure and Transport in this cabinet. In response to the party's success and climbing membership numbers, the Ponsonby Press periodical newspaper was launched as a free service to paying party members. As UKIP received 24% of the vote, it was nearly as large as all other non-government parties combined, and formed the opposition. UKIP apparently turned down offers to form a larger opposition coalition with the FCRP and Moderate Party, and instead stood alone in opposition. Sheldon Whitehouse commented about the difficulty his party faced passing legislation in this session of parliament; legislation was dependent on an unwieldy five-party alliance to get to 50% in the Chamber of Deputies - a prospect complicated by the Federal Liberals' opposition to many PRM policy priorities. PRM's most significant legislative accomplishment during this term was the Infrastructural Investment and Employment Act of 576, written by Secretary Willi Stoph, which diverted 10 billion Fall in federal funds to the states to spend on infrastructure projects. Cabinet Shakeup Talks At one point in 576, FLP began to look so hostile to the government it nominally supported that serious consideration was given to forming a second government including the Falleentium Moderate Party instead of the Federal Liberals. FMP had recently ditched its more militarist, nationalist, and anti-worker policies with the election of Michael Bloomberg as their new party leader, and was seen as compatible with the government. Sheldon Whitehouse reportedly gave Chancellor Brandt PRM's approval to form a second cabinet with FMP replacing FLP, and the process was only awaiting final approval from the New Progressives. However, these plans were ultimately scrapped at the last minute by Brandt after consulting with FLP leader Truman Nash, and FLP maintained its position in government. Leadership Contest and Red Federation War Sheldon Whitehouse called for a leadership challenge to unify and energize the party after suffering slim defeats to the "leave" campaigns in the independence referenda of Hastiga and Veldunium in December of 577AER. Speculative candidates included Foreign Secretary Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of Infrastructure and Transport Willi Stoph, Secretary of Education Donald Rumsfeld, MP John Fetterman, and MP Cumbernick Bandersnatch. However, no challengers formally entered the contest against Whitehouse as the outbreak of war against the Red Federation occurred only days later. The government was reformed as the Cabinet of Willy Brandt II, with all federal parties invited to participate as a wartime unity cabinet. However, the partisan drama did not end there, as UKIP was not included in the cabinet after their request to replace Whitehouse as Deputy Chancellor was denied. Jeff Sessions returned to the cabinet to serve as Under-Secretary for Aircraft Production under Secretary for War Production Michael Bloomberg. Electoral History Membership History Figures based on the official estimates of the Falleen Electoral Commission (FEC) Party Factions Once the Popular Republicans gained 107 seats in the Falleen Parliament, different factions in the party emerged and became official. Of the 107 PRM MPs, 80 are affiliated with one of the three factions and 27 remain unaffiliated. '''Investor Caucus: '''The Investor Caucus is a centre-left faction of PRM, and is currently the largest faction. They favor revitalization of the nation through investments. While most consider private investment preferable, investments directly from the federal budget are also supported by these parliamentarians. Notable members include Donald Rumsfeld, John Fetterman, and Rick Ross. '''Budget Hawks: '''The Budget Hawks are a centre-right faction in PRM, and their primary concern is fiscal responsibility. They desire a government committed first and foremost to a balanced budget, leaving investments as only a secondary objective. Notable members include Jeff Sessions, Allistair Tenpenny and Cumbernick Bandersnatch. '''Activists: '''The Activists are the smallest faction. They are the more unapologetically left-wing elements of the party, who share much ideologically with the Socialist Party. They favor an activist government that will intervene frequently to protect individuals from business and other special interests. They are the most in favor of direct democracy and populism. Notable members include Willi Stoph, Ernest P. Worrell, and Jimmy Dore. '''Unaffiliated: '''The unaffiliated members of the PRM don't associate explicitly with these three factions. For some, this is because they want to show neutrality as a party leader (such as with Sheldon Whitehouse, nominally unaffiliated despite most observers considering him part of the Investor Caucus). For others, this is because their priorities lie elsewhere (such is the case with Tulsi Gabbard, who is most concerned with foreign policy matters). Additional unaffiliated MPs include Rob Quist and Party Whip Guy Fieri. Party Leadership Category:The Imperial Constitution